


keep the car running

by folklores



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Gen, TWBingo, between 3a and 3b, roadtripping, sibling misadventures, there's sterek kind of sorta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-02-08
Packaged: 2018-01-11 14:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/folklores/pseuds/folklores
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So," Cora starts, snapping the gum in her mouth as she leans against the Cruiser on the other side of the fuel door while Derek unscrews the gas cap.</p><p>"You're not driving."</p>
            </blockquote>





	keep the car running

**Author's Note:**

> [twbingo](http://twbingo.tumblr.com/) [card one](http://blind.tumblr.com/post/74199048887/in-a-bid-to-try-and-get-my-fic-writing-juices): roadtrip
> 
> Kinda warmup for the rest of the prompts idefk I haven't written fic in ages don't look at me.

"So," Cora starts, snapping the gum in her mouth as she leans against the Cruiser on the other side of the fuel door while Derek unscrews the gas cap.

"You're not driving," he interrupts, setting the cap on top of the car before turning to the pump. He catches Cora sulking at him out of the corner of his eye as he swipes his card.

"We're in the middle of nowhere!" is her immediate protest, "There's nothing for me to hit except a cactus or something."

Derek lets out a low hum as he selects his fuel, and he moves to lift the nozzle to fill the tank. Cora still looks at him petulantly, and he's instantly reminded of her at eleven years old, vying for his and Laura's attention. It clenches something in his chest, and apparently it shows in his face because she almost seems to perk up in response. But he shakes his head, clicking the nozzle into place and leaning against the car to watch the numbers steadily climb. "The fact your first defense is that the _only_ thing you could hit is a cactus concerns me."

Almost immediately, she slaps the back of her hand against his bicep, popping her gum again. He regrets letting her get so much junkfood-- honestly, she's about as flattering about chewing gum as Isaac is, it's gross-- but at least she'd been appeased for about an hour.

"That's _if_ I crash, and I _won't_. I've driven before."

"I find that difficult to believe," he drawls, the corner of his mouth twitching a little in a restrained smile.

She looks at him sourly, and he has to be impressed by her ability to turn his expressions around on him. "Well, now's as good a time as any to learn, isn't it? There's been maybe ten cars top down this road, Derek."

Despite his reluctance to let her drive, Derek does have to give her that. They'd been hitting up roadside attractions every now and then, when Cora thought one sounded interesting or stupid enough to warrant a quick side trip to check it out, get ridiculous pictures with. Though there's some traffic, especially around the more big name attractions, but it's actually few and far between. His eyes lift to the open sky above them, absently watching the clouds as he tips his head back and forth in thought.

Before he can answer her, though, his phone buzzes in his jacket pocket. Cora huffs out an annoyed sound, but she lets him turn his attention to it and instead keeps watch of the gas pump as the numbers continue to climb. Derek returns her huff with a chuff, low and amused, then takes his phone from his pocket and swipes his thumb to unlock the text message.

`seen the world's biggest ball of twine yet?` 


Unable to help himself, Derek rolls his eyes and tips his head towards Cora as she takes the nozzle out and returns it to the pump once it lets out a dull _thump_ , the moment it's finished filling the tank. "Want to go see the world's largest ball of twine in Kansas?"

The question makes her scrunch her face a little at him, scrutinizing both him and the question while she tightens the gas cap until it clicks into place. "Is he trying to plan our trip or something? He keeps suggesting stupid tourist traps."

Derek shrugs, tapping his thumbs across his screen instead of moving off the side of the Cruiser.   `Why, want a souvenir?`

`uh, duh? you better come back to bh with a truckload of gas station nicknacks and tacky t-shirts and trucker hats dude.` 


`I promise nothing.`   Without looking, Derek knows that Cora is eyeballing him again, arms crossed. After a moment, he decides to fish through a jacket pocket to toss her the keys. The only thing that keeps her from dropping them in her surprise are her reflexes, he thinks. "You drive until we hit the next rest stop. We'll see if you can do more after that."

Something warms in his chest as she lights up, an expression he's only seen a handful of times since she came back into his life a couple months ago. He can't even stop himself from offering a quirk of a smile back, and then she disappears around the cruiser to the driver's side. But before he moves, he looks down at his phone the moment it vibrates in his hand, snorting softly. His expression doesn't really change too much, where Cora can't see it.

`if you don't bring me shit no big but you better come back, asshole.` 


"Let's go, Derek! I'm tired of all the aliens and conspiracy theories, we need something more interesting."

"I'm coming, relax." There's something comical to him about Cora adjusting the seat, and maybe a little horrifying at the same time. Still, he sends one final text before he puts his phone back in his pocket and moves to get into the car. Maybe they're on the run again, just like he and Laura had been when they first left Beacon Hills, but it's with a lighter heart despite everything that's happened. Cora looks excited to be driving, and he has a feeling that his work is cut out for him, but it doesn't matter. His sister's happy, and while he has something he has to get at the end of this trip, far away from what used to be their home, he's going to focus more on that than anything else. They're different people, now, but at their cores they're still the brother and sister that they were before everything was taken away from them in a blaze.

`See you soon.`


End file.
